Abstract
Oral history interview with Ralph Daly conducted by Charles Malkowshi on Febuary 25, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Ralph Daly (born in Texas in 1903) discusses his experience of moving to Las Vegas, Nevada during its early growth. Daly talks specifically about Block 16 and the Arizona Club and the extent of gambling and prostitution that took place there in the early 1900s. Daly also talks about moving to Las Vegas to make his living on gambling, how the construction of Hoover (Boulder) Dam attracted many migrant workers, and how, after World War II, Las Vegas attracted tourists and became more of a gambling town as more casinos were built.
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Scope and Contents Note
Oral history interview with Ralph Daly conducted by Charles Malkowshi on Febuary 25, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Ralph Daly discusses his experience of moving to Las Vegas, Nevada during its early growth. Daly talks specifically about Block 16 and the Arizona Club and the extent of gambling and prostitution that took place there in the early 1900s. Daly, who worked in oil fields but became paralyzed due to an injury, also talks about moving to Las Vegas to make his living on gambling after becoming disabled. He also describes how the construction of Boulder Dam attracted many migrant workers and how, after World War II, Las Vegas attracted tourists and became more of a gambling town as more casinos were built and worldwide advertising for those casinos started. Daly also discusses the end of prostitution in Las Vegas, certain famous gamblers he met, and the forms of cooling used before air conditioning was introduced. Includes digital audio recording and transcript.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. If use copies of the recordings do not exist, reformatting/production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish. Some transcripts do not exist in final form, therefore any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked.
Preferred Citation
Ralph Daly oral history interview, 1977 February 25. OH-00318. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
University of Nevada, Las Vegas History Professor Ralph Roske donated materials for this oral history project to UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives in the 1980s.
Processing Note
Interview materials were processed by UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives in 2017. Miguel Dominguez wrote the collection description. This interview was transcribed and edited by UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives as part of an ongoing effort to transcribe legacy interviews. This interview transcript received minimal editing and all measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. A digital version (PDF) of the transcript is available for research use. The audio cassette(s) for this interview have been reformatted by an external vendor into a digital format. MP3 files of the audio are available for research use.